London Design Festival preview: 5 must-follow Instagram accounts

The London Design Festival is right around the corner and soon to blow out 15 candles with a super extensive agenda of initiatives, projects, installations, events and workshops.

Social networks are definitely boosting the hype, and especially Instagram with its planetary audience eager to follow such hectic time of year in real time. We picked 5 great talents out of a juicy design crowd, whose Instagram accounts you would better start following now so to not miss a thing of London’s most exciting kermesse.

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Benjamin HubertAbout him: Listed among the UK’s most talented industrial designers, he is the founder of Layer, the creative agency working in-between the physical and digital world. Over the last few years, he has been triggering prestigious collaborations with companies of the likes of Nike, Samsung, Braun, BMW, oral B, Panasonic, Fritz Hansen and Herman Miller, whilst showing his works in any corner of the world. His major goals is to create relevant experiences based on a generous research activity in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, industrial design, and social behaviours with the aim of making human life easier.

Why to follow: Benjamin is going to launch two different projects within Design Frontiers, the group exhibition held at the Somerset House in London: first there’s the AXYL collection for Allermuir, a brand new selection of eco-sustainable furniture defined by bold design and strong innovation. Nolii soon follows, meaning the new high-tech company dedicated to contemporary lifestyle and co-founded with fellow designer and businessman Asad Hamir. The collection’s key pieces are soon to be unveiled within a unique, immersive installation celebrating the beauty of digital interconnections.

About her: After snatching a Degree in Product Design at the Royal College of Art under the guidance of Juergen Bay and Martino Gamper, she immediately started a multi-disciplinary exploration across colours and materials with the aim of fulfilling environmental eco-sustainability principles in mass production, too. She has been working with popular names of the likes of Nilufar, Abet Laminati, Kvadrat, Bitossi Ceramiche, Tory Burch, Tolix and Hermés, while her personal works are being displayed at the V&A Museum of Childhood, Swiss Institute in New York, Daelim Museum and MOT (The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo). In 2016, she has been awarded the Swarovski Emerging Talent within the British Land Celebration of Design Medal Exhibition.

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Why to follow: Her latest design works are going to be staged at Oneroom in Shoreditch, a 17-year-old gallery specialising in creativity, philosophy, and new materials, that brings forward a cross-sectoral approach to architecture, design art, and communication through the use of interactive installations, exhibitions, videos and images.

Eccentricity is the key-word here, nothing but a smart mix of artisanal techniques and solid materials like plastic and wood. The result? Colourful home accessories and furniture, with an innate sculptural soul.

Hella JongeriusAbout her: Danish industrial designer Hella Congeries creates textile collections, tableware and furniture. She being a fan of contrasting, heterogeneous mixes, Hella loves to intertwine modern technology with handmade items, in an bipolar ode to industrial manufacturing and craftsmanship: she stitched a ceramic plate directly onto a cotton tablecloth, and rolled up rough edged leather to create wheels. Together with legend Rem Koolhaas, she also renovated the North Delegates’ Lounge at the United Nations building in New York.

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Why to follow: After joining the “Breathing Colour” exhibition at the Design Museum, she is now landing to Galerie Kreo with “Chromatic Sequences”, an explorative path across colours and materials when affected by natural light. The main features include: “Tile”, the result of an extended chromatic research in ceramics, uniting a limited palette of clay and glaze colours; “Artificial Vases”, four vases made of glass and ceramic mounted on a wooden board, each one enriched with a flower shaped out of mixed materials, including ceramic, resin, wood, leather, fabric and blown glass; “Knots & Beads Curtain”, consisting of handcrafted half-glazed beads hand-knotted along cotton ropes. Lastly, “Animal Mirrors”: playing with the mirrored image of oneself and the fragments of an animal’s ‘face’, the fox, vulture and rhinoceros mirrors are conceived as interactive pieces for the viewer.

About her: Super young designer Jode Pankhurst mainly used to work with graphics and illustration. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, she creates ceramic collections with bold, daring, and playful patterns: check out her latest unconventional vase selection with golden finishes.

Why to follow: Jode is going to join the London Design Festival with a bunch of initiatives: first of all, a pop-up shop in Stoke Newington where – concurrently with the Independent Ceramics Market – her handmade works will be up for sale in the days between 16th and 17th Sept., 2017. Her pottery workshop is just next: on 24th Sept., 2017, simply rush to the Future&Found store in Tufnell Park and learn all tricks when it comes to funny ceramics. Last but not least, she will be part of the London Sketchbook Festival Pop-Up Shop (21st-30th Sept., 2017) on Hertford Road, 2-10, showcasing and selling 100% locally sourced products from 35+ vendors based in the UK.

Lee BroomAbout him: One of the finest interior designers in the UK, over the last ten years he has been author of a total of 75 furniture and light pieces, along with 40 interior layouts for private properties, boutique stores, bars and restaurants. A firm supporter of the “Made in England” philosophy, he works for brands like Christian Laboutin, Mulberry, Matthew Williamson. His personal background (stretching from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the studio of Vivienne Westwood) invites him to cross disciplines and push his aesthetic sensitivity beyond the borders of conventional design.

Why to follow: Lee Broom is going to celebrate his 10th London Design Festival by unveiling ‘ON REFLECTION’, a darker dimension born from a reflection on his decade in design with an installation of some of Broom’s most iconic designs – see the Drunken Side Table, Crescent Light and Fulcrum Light, and the chandeliers Carousel and On The Rock – reimagined in all-black. Presented in the Shoreditch flagship store, which for one week only will be totally transformed in to a tableau, the installation will surprise visitors with a surreal and modern twist.

Opening photo: Clockwise from top left: Hella Jongerius, Benjamin Hubert, Jode Pankhurst, Lee Broom and Bethan Laura Wood. Make sure to follow their instagram accounts to make the most of the London Design Festival 2017.